How to use this Page

I answer your burning freelancing questions on the blog. If you have a question, e-mail it to me at [email protected]. Have a lot of questions? Consider signing up for a phone mentoring session.

Alyssa asks: What if the magazine you’re querying asks for clips specific to that niche, and you’ve only written for other types of publications? For example, you’re trying to pitch a love and relationship piece and you’ve written mostly about news and politics? I know that not all publications ask for clips specific to their niche, but I have come across it… and am wondering whether I’m supposed to just write something on my blog on that topic and use that coupled with something else published? Or could I just use an older clip and explain that I have not yet written about X topic but am experienced in Y and read the magazine religiously?

Good question! I’m a big fan of shooting high and using what you have, instead of holding off on a pitch until you have the exact “right” clips. So if you want to write a relationship story and all your clips are politics-related, I would wow the editor with a stellar pitch that shows you know the market and then send a few of my best politics-related samples. Clips show more than that you can write on a certain topic — they show that you know how to write for publication, period. So even if your clips are not relevant to the topic you’re pitching, paired with a great query they do have impact.

I hope that helps! [lf]

A few weeks ago I had the honor of attending BEA2010 (no not the BEA that happened last week) which was part of the 2010NAB conference. I was there to celebrate the launch of the BBC College of Journalism Website (COJO) a collaboration between OUP and the BBC. The site allows citizens outside of the UK access to the online learning and development materials created for BBC journalists. It is a vast resource filled to the brim with videos, audio clips, discussion pages, interactive modules and text pages covering every aspect of TV, radio, and online journalism. At the conference I had a chance to talk with Kevin Marsh, the Executive Editor of COJO, and I will be sharing clips from our conversation for the next few weeks. This week I have posted a clip in which Kevin shares why he choose journalism as a career. Read Kevin’s blog here. Watch the other videos in this series here and here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A few weeks ago I had the honor of attending BEA2010 (no not the BEA that happened last week) which was part of the 2010NAB conference. I was there to celebrate the launch of the BBC College of Journalism Website (COJO) a collaboration between OUP and the BBC. The site allows citizens outside of the UK access to the online learning and development materials created for BBC journalists. It is a vast resource filled to the brim with videos, audio clips, discussion pages, interactive modules and text pages covering every aspect of TV, radio, and online journalism. At the conference I had a chance to talk with Kevin Marsh, the Executive Editor of COJO, and I will be sharing clips from our conversation for the next few weeks. This week I have posted a clip which emphasizes the true hard work that journalism involves. Read Kevin’s blog here.  Watch last week’s video here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A few weeks ago I had the honor of attending BEA2010 (no not the BEA happening this week) which was part of the 2010NAB conference.  I was there to celebrate the launch of the BBC College of Journalism Website (COJO) a collaboration between OUP and the BBC.  The site allows citizens outside of the UK access to the online learning and development materials created for BBC journalists.  It is a vast resource filled to the brim with videos, audio clips, discussion pages, interactive modules and text pages covering every aspect of TV, radio, and online journalism.  At the conference I had a chance to talk with Kevin Marsh, the Executive Editor of COJO, and I will be sharing clips from our conversation for the next few weeks.  To start us off I have posted a clip which emphasizes the value of truth in journalism.  Read Kevin’s blog here.

Click here to view the embedded video.